From the first sentence I was drawn into Laura's story of former reporter Clari Drake, now turned full time mom, struggling to come to grips with her career choices, her weight, and the strange world of the rich folk in the upscale Berkeley school to which she and her husband send their two children. When Clari and some friends uncover evidence of some shenanigans in the upper echelons of the school's management, this world gets stranger and more unsettling with each new revelation until the surprise ending.

I was blown away by the author's prowess for description. She can make the most mundane things and events meaningfully jump out from the page, and she endows her characters with layer upon layer of complexity that she peels like an onion before your eyes as the plots unfolds. I was so enthralled by her writing that I found myself doing something that I disapprove of: I was jumping chapters so I could find what happened next!

The read was also fun. Clari and her friends have a very unique sense of humor. I specially enjoyed their meetings at the Ice Pick Cafe with its very sui generis menu items. Did the author make this up or is there really such a place? The book is well written and formatted, with only a typo or two, and the links work. All in all, a thrilling and pleasant read.

So, does the hero of the story find clarity? To figure this out read the book, but consider the following: Today's world is complicated, and the motivations behind people's actions are so much more so. This is reflected in Laura's book, and she pulls no punches. Gone are the days where the good guy felt everything he did was right and everything the villain did was wrong. Finding clarity is about searching for the light amidst the shades of grey, both outside and within.

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